Driver door lock

[bobsright]

I have an 88. Driver door won't open. It won't unlock, either manually or with power. With power on it just keeps switching right back to locked before I can get the door to open. I also broke off the outside handle in the process of trying to get the door opened. Any ideas? Obviously the the door card can't be removed with the door closed. Any options other than tearing it up?

[merkurdriver]

Climb in from the passenger side and try from the inside?

P.S. Have good used, and also brand new exterior door handles on hand once you get the that point.

[Ed Lijewski]

Disconnect the battery so the solenoid can't actuate (?)

YMMV

[bobsright]

Yes I've tried from the inside. It just keeps re-locking right away even while you're still pressing unlock. And yes I've disconnected the battery. It won't unlock without power. If you read the post it says it won't unlock manually or with power on. That means with or without battery connected. Guess that wasn't clear-sorry.

[merkurdriver]

Probably not the best suggestion, but...

Get a nice drivers door panel on standby and butcher yours to get in there.

[Ed Lijewski]

If the window will power down, try working the inside door release and the external key at the same time (s).

Also, one of the doors may not be fully shut confusing the system; if you can, open and firmly shut the other doors and use your body weight against the driver door as you turn the key.

As well, maybe rap both key locks with a rubber hammer...

YMMV

[bobsright]

Mike:
That would be my final option.

Ed:
Will give that a try tomorrow.

I was curious as to whether this was a common occurrence with these cars and there was a "trick" to getting it open. Thanks for the replies. Will post if I ever get it open and how I did it.

[Ed Lijewski]

...and there's also the Slim Jim approach.

YMMV

[Bob Weir]

Having the Shop and Elec & Vac manuals makes this job a lot easier...

Disconnect battery or Fuse 10
Remove the screw holding the interior door handle assembly.
2 Rods from handle go to lock mechanism in door to pillar. FYI Another rod goes from door lock assembly to its motor.
When pulling on one of the rods, it "should" release the lock hook to pillar loop.
If not, you're going to have to cut away the inside door card to access to rods where they connect to the lock mechanism at edge of door.
These are rather thick rods, therefore I doubt one of them is bent and not connecting properly.
If you cannot release the lock by pulling on the rod, the motor may be holding it in the lock position. If so, you'll have to cut the door card and unmount the motor from the door to release the tension.

After you release the door lock, you have to find the cause of the motor constantly locking. Most likely you have a "short" in the wiring.

With the door open and power to system [Fuse 10 & battery], do a VOLTAGE check! Don't concern yourself with ohms.
Get "System voltage" aka "SV" from battery. Disconnect window motor and measure SV going into window motor connector, If not SV, you have a short between it and Fuse 10. It's going to be easier to find the short if you use the Elec & Vac book.

This is NOT a common Merkur nor Scorpio problem. You most likely have an bad wire short or ground [Motor wants to continually "lock"]. NOTE This circuit also affects the lift gate lock & lights and door footwell lights through S1007. If your door footwell and/or liftgate lights are not working properly, you have bad circuit[s].

When you own a Merkur, you really need the Shop Manual and Elec & Vac Trouble Shooting Manual. Post a "WTB" in the Scorpio Classifieds. Many available at reasonable prices, although the shipping on the manual is a money maker for the USPS ≈ 7.5 lbs.

An unfortunate trait of the Merkurs is the plastic [fragile] loop in the exterior door handle. DON'T force it in the winter when ice may have accumulated in the door seals or you'll break another. Left side handles are same, but not interchangeable with right side.

Good luck.

[Ed Lijewski]

I once experienced the door solenoid on unlocking driver's door go into unlock/lock/unlock/lock constantly repeating mode. Luckily, on retrying I also pressed on the rear and driver's door and the locks opened.

YMMV

[Bob Weir]

Ed

What was causing the lock / unlock sequencing?

What do u think of my suggestion?

[Ed Lijewski]

I didn't investigate internally. It occurred maybe 7/8 years ago on a winter day when overnight temps were below freezing and slowly moving to above freezing. I drove the car on an errand, parked with driver's,side facing full sun, and on expecting to lock it normally the solenoid vacillation occurred. On retrying the locking after a minute or so of wondering what was occurring and why, it worked normally. I did press on both doors before retrying, as there might have been some ice somewhere along the door seal/jamb/lock from snow melting and refreezing. After that single experience I just applied silicone to the door seals periodically and tried to remeber to assure each door is firmy shut on closing it. I might also have applied key lock graphite or other lubricant into the key hole after that in case the mechanical lock cylinder was involved.

YMMV

[Bob Weir]

This pik might help

[bobsright]

First off, thanks again for all the replies. I have not had the chance to get back to this issue but will address the latest replies.
Bob
I have "The Manual". By-passing the switch to manually move the rods won't solve this issue. The actuator has to be disconnected. I guess I would have been more succinct in asking.."Is there a way to get the door card off with the door closed". I'm sure getting to the innards will bring about a resolution, I just don't want to tear up the door. The electrical gremlins will be addressed later. That one door and it's lock is the only thing affected so I'm close to positive that the door lock motor is messed up.
Ed
What you described is exactly what's happening to me. Or sort of. Mine doesn't unlock/lock on it's own. I have to initiate the unlock and the motor forces the lock switch back to lock even with pressure on the unlock side of the switch. It'll stop as soon as I let up. I never gave the slim jim idea a thought because the door seems to be incapable of being unlocked manually. So it would seem that a sj would not be able to get it to unlock either. Hmm. Just read this..."The lock control motors incorporate a mechanical overload clutch which makes it possible to unlock the doors mechanically in the event of damage or an accident." Well someone needs to tell my car this because it won't unlock manually. Guess the clutch could be messed up?
Anyway. I didn't expect this to be a long drawn out discussion. The weather is supposed to cool down some next week and I'll motivate myself to work on this and get back to you guys on what I find.

[bobsright]

Well finally got back to it and looks like my only option is to tear apart the door card. I disconnected the central locking fuse, I opened and closed all doors (except drivers obvi). I tried forcing the unlock button in as hard as I could with a piece of metal while pulling on the door latch and leaning into the door. I even put the key in the passenger door and held it in the unlock position (after putting fuse back) and all the doors would just unlock/lock repeatedly. Then with it in this state I pulled the fuse and touched the contacts and let the locks cycle trying to stop it at unlock. Nothing worked. When holding down the unlock button you can tell that it doesn't go all the way over no matter how hard you press it down. And during the unlock/lock cycling the door never fully goes to unlock even for a split second. There's interference there and I suspect it's the lock motor malfunctioning. Oh yeah, the outside lock does nothing, either manually or with power. It has been awhile since I've worked on this and I forgot that, whether it matters or not.
So, thanks for your ideas and inputs.